Editing Birdwatching (section)

==The history of birdwatching==
[[File:Birdwatchers, AH Chisholm, State Library NSW.jpg|thumb|Bird photography, New South Wales, June 1921 (A. H. Chisholm)]]
The early interest in observing birds for their aesthetic rather than utilitarian (mainly food) value is traced to the late 18th century in the works of [[Gilbert White]], [[Thomas Bewick]], [[George Montagu (naturalist)|George Montagu]] and [[John Clare]].<ref>Moss 2004:10</ref> The study of birds, and of natural history in general, became increasingly prevalent in Britain during the [[Victorian Era]], often associated with [[bird collections|collection]], eggs and later skins being the artifacts of interest. Wealthy collectors made use of their contacts in the [[Colonialism|colonies]] to obtain specimens from around the world. It was only in the late 19th century that the call for bird protection led to the rising popularity of observations of living birds. The [[Audubon Society]] was started to protect birds from the growing trade in feathers in the United States while the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] began in Britain.<ref>Moss 2004:72</ref>

The phrase "bird watching" appeared for the first time as the title of the book ''Bird Watching'' by [[Edmund Selous]] in 1901.<ref>Moss 2004:88</ref> In North America, the identification of birds, once thought possible only by shooting, was made possible by the emergence of optics and field identification guides. The earliest field guide in the US was ''Birds through an Opera Glass'' (1889) by [[Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey|Florence Bailey]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Barrow|first=Mark|year=1998|title=A Passion for Birds|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=156–157|isbn=978-0-691-04402-6}}</ref>

Birding in North America was focused in the early and mid-20th century in the eastern seaboard region, and was influenced by the works of [[Ludlow Griscom]] and later [[Roger Tory Peterson]]. ''[[Bird Neighbors]]'' (1897) by [[Neltje Blanchan]], an early birding book, sold over 250,000 copies.<ref>Shearin, Gloria. 2008. [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=eahYM-4DT0kC&oi=fnd&pg=PA62 Neltje Blanchan.] In: Patterson, D., Thompson, R., Bryson, S., ''et al.'', ''Early American Nature Writers''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, {{ISBN|0313346801}}. pp.62–69.</ref> It was illustrated with color photographs of stuffed birds.<ref>Dunlap, Thomas R. 2011. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=T-2cCv8VIvEC&pg=PT58 In the Field, Among the Feathered: A History of Birders & Their Guides]'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0199734593}}. p. 47.</ref>

The organization and networking of those interested in birds began through organizations like the Audubon Society, which was against the killing of birds, and the [[American Ornithologists' Union]] (AOU). The availability of first the bicycle and then the car increased the mobility of birdwatchers and this made new locations accessible.<ref>Moss 2004:104–106</ref> Networks of birdwatchers in the UK began to form in the late 1930s under the [[British Trust for Ornithology]] (BTO). The BTO saw the potential to produce scientific results through the networks, unlike the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) which like the Audubon Society originated from the bird protection movement.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Macdonald |first=H.|year=2002|title=What makes you a scientist is the way you look at things: ornithology and the observer 1930–1955|journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences|volume=33|issue=1|page=53|doi=10.1016/S1369-8486(01)00034-6}}</ref>

Like the AOU in North America, the BOU had a focus mainly on collection-based taxonomy. The BOU changed focus to ecology and behaviour only in the 1940s.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Ibis: Transformations in a Twentieth Century British Natural History Journal|last=Johnson |first= Kristin|journal=Journal of the History of Biology|volume=37|issue=3|year=2004|pages=515–555|doi=10.1007/s10739-004-1499-3|s2cid=83849594}}</ref> The BTO movement towards 'organized birdwatching' was opposed by the RSPB, which claimed that the 'scientification' of the pastime was 'undesirable'. This stand was to change only in 1936 when the RSPB was taken over by [[Tom Harrisson]] and others. Harrisson was instrumental in the organization of pioneering surveys of the [[great crested grebe]].<ref>Moss 2004:128</ref>

Increased mobility of birdwatchers ensured that books like ''Where to Watch Birds'' by [[John Gooders]] became best-sellers.<ref>Moss 2004:233–234</ref> By the 1960s air travel became feasible and long-distance holiday destinations opened up. By 1965, Britain's first birding tour company, ''Ornitholidays'' had been started by Lawrence Holloway.<ref>Moss 2004:234–235</ref> Travelling far away also led to problems in name usage: British birds such as "wheatear", "heron" and "swallow" needed adjectives to differentiate them in places where there were several related species.<ref>Moss 2004:250</ref> The falling cost of air travel made flying to remote birding destinations a possibility for a large number of people towards the 1980s. The need for global guides to birds increased, and one of the biggest resulting projects was the ''[[Handbook of the Birds of the World]]'', begun in the 1990s by Josep del Hoyo, Jordi Sargatal, David A. Christie, and ornithologist Andy Elliott.<ref>Moss 2004:252–253</ref>

Initially, birdwatching was largely restricted to developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Since the second half of the 20th century an increasing number of people in developing countries have engaged in this activity, such as in the [[Degua Tembien]] district of Ethiopia.<ref name="ALN2019">{{cite book |last1=Aerts |first1=R. |last2=Lerouge |first2=F. |last3=November |first3=E. |title=Birds of forests and open woodlands in the highlands of Dogu'a Tembien. In: Nyssen J., Jacob, M., Frankl, A. (Eds.). Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}}</ref> Transnational birding has played an important role in this, as birders in developing countries usually take up the pastime under the influence of foreign cultures with a history of birding.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Breve historia de la observación de aves en México en el siglo XX y principios del siglo XXI|last1=Gómez de Silva |first1=Héctor|last2=Alvarado Reyes |first2=Ernesto |journal=Huitzil|volume=11|year=2010|pages=9–20|doi=10.28947/hrmo.2010.11.1.109 |s2cid=252627895 |url=http://www.huitzil.net/HUITZIL_2009-123.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723145508/http://www.huitzil.net/HUITZIL_2009-123.pdf|archive-date=23 July 2011}}</ref> A majority of transnational birders are middle-aged, male, affluent, and belong to the Anglophone countries or Scandinavia.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Connell|first=John|date=2009|title=Birdwatching, Twitching and Tourism: towards an Australian perspective|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00049180902964942|journal=Australian Geographer|volume=40|issue=2|pages=203–217|doi=10.1080/00049180902964942|bibcode=2009AuGeo..40..203C |s2cid=143560339 |issn=0004-9182}}</ref>